Cloning Windows 11 and Getting it to Boot: Difference between revisions
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Oddly, this article is focused on the latter part of the title. | |||
There are a myriad of different ways to clone Windows to another HDD / SSD, etc. Software (Acronis, Linux based, etc.) and Hardware (USB drive bays that have cloning ability) based. This article is about getting it to boot on another piece of hardware (or in a Virtual Machine). And yes, there are many automated ways of doing it with Acronis Universal Restore, etc. This article is for when the 'automatic stuff' doesn't work. | |||
If your interested in reading about the boot process of a PC and how Windows boots (NTLDR / MBR and UEFI Style), Wikipedia has a ton of good stuff on it. | |||
==First Things First (and where they are)== | ==First Things First (and where they are)== | ||
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**Switching between RAID (Intel or other software based RAID), AHCI, IDE for SATA (or IDE / PATA) is much easier in Windows 11 (see below) | **Switching between RAID (Intel or other software based RAID), AHCI, IDE for SATA (or IDE / PATA) is much easier in Windows 11 (see below) | ||
==Fast Boot== | ==Fast Boot (not to be confused with Ready Boost)== | ||
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-windows-10-fast-startup | https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-windows-10-fast-startup | ||
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Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Power\HiberbootEnabled (0 = off, 1 = on) | Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Power\HiberbootEnabled (0 = off, 1 = on) | ||
== RAID (Intel or other software based RAID) / AHCI / IDE for SATA (or PATA for that matter) == | ==RAID (Intel or other software based RAID) / AHCI / IDE for SATA (or PATA for that matter)== | ||
The simplest thing to do is to let it crash and reboot a couple of times until it offers to boot into Safe Mode (which it should successfully do). Safe Mode now seems to include the ability to try various RAID / HDD / SSD / NGFF / NVMe / etc. drivers (or maybe it just loads all the drivers by default. Anyway, after booting into Safe Mode, | The simplest thing to do is to let it crash and reboot a couple of times until it offers to boot into Safe Mode (which it should successfully do). Safe Mode now seems to include the ability to try various RAID / HDD / SSD / NGFF / NVMe / etc. drivers (or maybe it just loads all the drivers by default. Anyway, after booting into Safe Mode, | ||
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<nowiki>*</nowiki> And of course the setting is under the "Choose what the power buttons do" even though it is no way involved with any power buttons. And for that matter, why is the word buttonS plural? For the life of me, I cannot think of a single computer that has multiple external power buttons (the exception being motherboards that have the power button mounted on the case, plus a button the motherboard manufacturer placed on the motherboard itself, and not counting the power SWITCH on the rear of a PSU). | <nowiki>*</nowiki> And of course the setting is under the "Choose what the power buttons do" even though it is no way involved with any power buttons. And for that matter, why is the word buttonS plural? For the life of me, I cannot think of a single computer that has multiple external power buttons (the exception being motherboards that have the power button mounted on the case, plus a button the motherboard manufacturer placed on the motherboard itself, and not counting the power SWITCH on the rear of a PSU). | ||
== EasyBCD == | ==EasyBCD== | ||
EasyBCD has some minor issues. The first that comes to mind is that it doesn't always decide on the correct BCD file if there are multiple partitions with BCD files. It gets it right about 98% of the time, but sometimes decides on the wrong one. So just to be sure, and to avoid frustration, double check by loading the BCD you want to edit. | EasyBCD has some minor issues. The first that comes to mind is that it doesn't always decide on the correct BCD file if there are multiple partitions with BCD files. It gets it right about 98% of the time, but sometimes decides on the wrong one. So just to be sure, and to avoid frustration, double check by loading the BCD you want to edit. | ||
Another issue it has relates to the "Metro" Boot Menu (see below). The checkbox for the menu just doesn't seem to ever match up with reality. Use BootICE or the Command line to control the "Metro" feature. | Another issue it has relates to the "Metro" Boot Menu (see below). The checkbox for the menu just doesn't seem to ever match up with reality. Use BootICE or the Command line to control the "Metro" feature. | ||
== Metro Boot Menu (from Windows 8) == | ==Metro Boot Menu (from Windows 8)== | ||
Instead of the clunky Text based boot menu, you can have a cool Windows 8 "tile looking" boot menu. The down side is that it comes up later in the boot process than the text menu. So if there's an issue with any partitions on a disk drive, you might never make it to that menu to select an option before the computer crashes. Play it safe and keep the text based menu. | Instead of the clunky Text based boot menu, you can have a cool Windows 8 "tile looking" boot menu. The down side is that it comes up later in the boot process than the text menu. So if there's an issue with any partitions on a disk drive, you might never make it to that menu to select an option before the computer crashes. Play it safe and keep the text based menu. | ||
==Google Tirade== | ==Google Tirade== | ||
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== Rough Notes (all the below can be ignored, it's just the rough notes this article was based on == | ==Rough Notes (all the below can be ignored, it's just the rough notes this article was based on== | ||
Be prepared to fix BCD stuff (the BOOTREC command is next to useless. Imagine spinning around in a circle seven times, and then pinning the tail on the donkey, that's about the success chances of BOOTREC, IE nothing evil or bad, just sheer luck that it will work or not, which begs the question of how useful a feature it is.) with: BCDBOOT: https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/the-requested-system-device-cannot-be-found.html (Documentation from Microsoft: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/bcdboot-command-line-options-techref-di?view=windows-11) | Be prepared to fix BCD stuff (the BOOTREC command is next to useless. Imagine spinning around in a circle seven times, and then pinning the tail on the donkey, that's about the success chances of BOOTREC, IE nothing evil or bad, just sheer luck that it will work or not, which begs the question of how useful a feature it is.) with: BCDBOOT: https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/the-requested-system-device-cannot-be-found.html (Documentation from Microsoft: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/bcdboot-command-line-options-techref-di?view=windows-11) | ||